Catholic Online published an essay I wrote on the abdication of Pope Benedict.
Source: Catholic Online | By Fr. Johannes L. Jacobse
NAPLES, FL. (Catholic Online) – Like almost everyone, the resignation of Pope Benedict came as a shock to Orthodox believers. Those of us who have watched Pope Benedict and his predecessor Pope John Paul II work to lessen the estrangement between the … [Read more...]

Making common cause against secularism and other maladies of the modern era with the Catholic Church is a wise course. The Russian Orthodox Church approves (see my articles on Catholic Online). But how will Constantinople respond?
Below is a press release where Pope Benedict sounds the same theme in a message to Pat. Bartholomew of Constantinople. It will be interesting to see what … [Read more...]

Source: Inside Vatican
The end of state atheism in Russia in 1991 and the return to Christian faith in that country, at least in a modest way, in the years since — opinions on the extent of Russia's religious renewal are sharply divided — seemed something impossible in the 1960s, 1970, 1980s...
Pope John Paul II fervently desired that change so that Europe might regain its … [Read more...]

From George Patsourakos' website Theology and Society. George is a commentator and contributor to the AOI Observer. I have only one quibble with this otherwise strong editorial. The problem of pedophilia (a misnomer, it is really pedastery) was not a "...result of the Catholic Church's policy of secrecy in which bishops transferred pedophile priests to different communities," but caused by the … [Read more...]

Again, almost incomprehensible just a few short years ago. Highlight: "The common objective: the "new evangelization" of Europe. A delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church visits the Vatican, which publishes an anthology of the patriarch's writings. A meeting between Kirill and Benedict XVI keeps getting closer."
by Sandro Magister Chiesa Espresso
ROME, May 24, 2010 – Benedict XVI will soon … [Read more...]

Pope John-Paul II, long before the fall of Communism said that the spiritual renewal of Western Europe would come from Russia. These were prophetic words as it turns out, but at the time many culture watchers thought they were the idealistic ramblings of a dreamer. Who would have thought just a few short decades ago the brutal tyranny of Communism would fall, collapsing under its own … [Read more...]